By Cyrus McNally
Daily Bruin Contributor
The stage was set last Tuesday evening at Hollywood’s own
Club Vynyl for what looked to be an experimental rock band: three
guitars, bass, bongos and a drum set were sprawled across the
stage. Stealthily hidden amongst the real instruments, however,
were a drum machine and tape decks, which would be the real
instigators of heating up the packed club with rave-style dancing
that ensued throughout the night.
Out of all the underground dance acts to come out of Europe in
the last couple of months, peeking their heads out to check for
potential, less-jaded American audiences, the nine-membered
Rinocerose proved itself to have something sorely missing in
today’s club scene: class.
Managing to leave behind the pretentious, stinky cheese usually
associated with metropolis house music, the French band managed to
keep the crowd on the floor of the sweat-soaked venue throughout
the evening, conjuring up sounds reminiscent of an
Underworld-gone-Hollywood. This was definitely not a bad thing in
the slightest.
Highly danceable, yet undeniably respectable for its
avante-garde edge, Rinocerose melodically assaulted the audience
with a multi-guitar attack, thundering bass riffs capable of
crumbling mountainsides and unstoppable house beats.
Lead guitarist Jean-Philippe Freu on occasion traded in his axe
for a tambourine, allowing for gorgeously rhythmic interplay
between the other two guitarists. The band even incorporated a live
flutist, Franck Gauthier, for beautiful flute solos in-between some
of the more mellow pieces.
Undeniable components of Rinocerose’s presence, and also
listed as band members in their recent first full-length album
release, “Installation Sonore,” are optical effects
artist Fred Ladoue and lighting designer Chris Hawkes. The visual
show put on by the two paralleled that of any West Coast rave, with
stunning swirls of psychedelia transposed on urban images ““
people in shopping malls, street scenes, along with a massive
collage.
In some ways Rinocerose was a complete sensory experience:
random images capable of inducing epilepsy set to body-shaking bass
beats, both underneath a magnificent barrage of distorted
guitars.
Although most tracks Rinocerose played during Tuesday’s
performance might have been directly reproduced from
“Installation Sonore,” no one seemed to mind. The band
blissfully chugged through mellow pieces such as
“Radiocapte,” bassist Patrice Carrie carrying the
groove steady with percussionist Fred Pace, who knocked on bongos
and timbales like there was no tomorrow.
By the set list closers, “La Guitaristic House
Organisation” and “I Love Ma Guitare,” the band
was dripping in sweat, just like most of the crowd.
During the effervescent “Rock Classics Volume 1,”
flutist Gauthier let out mad solos, sometimes using his instrument
for percussion rather than for melody. Set to this particular piece
was an interesting collage of album covers, each flashed for only a
second or two, which ranged widely from Elvis Presley to the
Beatles to Joy Division.
During the band’s second encore, images of jet planes
filled the over head screens, keying guitarist Remi Saboul to let
out a loud, building wail from his guitar. The noise produced
sounded much like a Bristol air raid siren, also warning of the
fascist bombing of distortion about to be let loose by fellow
guitarists Freu and Florian Brinker. An utterly mad loop of
hard-house beats from Johnny Palumbo’s drum decks ensued,
culminating in a five-minute frenzy of dance floor ecstasy that
combined the essence of avant-rock n’ roll with a European
club sleekness.
When the show was over, it became apparent that the band had
successfully simulated the rave experience, while replacing the
all-too-common insincerity of synthesizers with the wholeness of
electric guitars.
Even if at times some of the band’s gear was miked less
than optimally, the band proved that it is indeed possible to
incorporate real instruments into dance music, and make it into a
heck of a live show as well. If the new millennium sees more
cross-genre, technique-savvy bands such as Rinocerose, perhaps a
new era of dance music will be spawned and the integrity of the
club scene regained.